Wrist watch band



P 1950 L. GILCREASE 2,521,290

WRIST WATCH BAND Filed Sept. 11, 1948 Z0 15 A 19 F IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 5, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WRIST WATCH BAND Leonard L. Gilcrease, Hanford, Calif.

Application September 11, 1948', Serial No. 48,806

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in a wrist watch band. It consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

It is proposed in this invention to provide a band for locating a watch on a persons wrist in such a manner that the watch and band will be thoroughly comfortable to wear, and which will aiiord the greatest protection of the Watch against accidental injury. The band is loose on the wrist, yet the watch is retained in position.

Moreover, I propose to provide a band that may be instantly and easily unlatched by the wearer for removal from the persons wrist. The band includes a. full hinged side, which allows the band to free the wrist when unlatched. Further, the band has a latch that never opens accidentally, and watch-Snatchers cannot remove the band with one hand or without the wearer knowing it.

When using my band, the watch is located pri marily for the wearers convenience and" use. The watch is positioned on the upper inside of the wrist where the wearer can readily read it unnoticed and without waving of the forearm and reversing the latter.

It is further proposed to provide a band that insures it staying square around or fiat to the wrist, although it is comfortably loose. The band coacts with prominence at the wrist joint for holding the band and watch against both 1ongitudinal and lateral movement. These prominences constitute stops for retaining the band against turning about the wrist in either direction. The watch rests in the natural hollow of the upper inside of the wrist, but the pulse arteries are not pressed as the watch and band straddle them.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds, and the novel features of my invention will be set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this application, in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of my band il lustrating a watch positioned on the inside of the wearers forearm adjacent the wrist joint;

Figure 2 is a similar view looking from the back of the forearm;

Figure 3 is a transverse view taken along the line IIIIII of Figure 1;

Figures 4 and 5 are face views of two links forming parts of my wrist watch band.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, it will be noted that I provide a wrist band made up of [a cruciform back plate A, watch-engaging link B and. a latching link C. This band is adapted for removably holding a watch D on the inside E of a persons forearm adjacent to the wrist joint F.

In order that a clear understanding of the use of my wrist band may be had, a brief description of the anatomical parts of the forearm and wrist will be set forth. The thumb of the wearer is designated at it; the hypothenar eminence at H; the radius and ulna bones at E2 and I3, respectively; the pulse area near thev base of the thumb at it; the upper and lower sides of the forearm at it and it, respectively; and the back of the forearm at E. The radius and ulna bones i2 and I3, respectively, have prominences H20, and Na, respectively, between which a natural hollow IT is formed (see Figure 1). The wrist watch D has been disclosed as resting in this hollow. A1- so, these bones and prominences form a hollow It on the back E of the forearm.

The back plate A of my wrist band is hinged to the watch D by a pin is and extends over the top it of the forearm, downwardly along the back E of the latter to substantially the lower side [6 of the forearm. The latching link C is hinged at one end to the back plate A by a pin 29, the opposite end of this link being reduced in width and turned back upon itself to provide a hook 2|.

The watch-engaging link B has its upper end hinged to the watch by a pin 22, While its lower end is recessed at 23 (see Figure 4). A pin 24 is fastened by ears 25 to the link B so as to extend across the recess 23. The recess 23 and pin it? coact with one another to provide a slot 26 through which the hook it may be inserted for the purpose of engaging the hook over the pin 24 so as to definitely latch the links 13 and C together. To unlatch the wrist band place the thumb on the face of the watch D; place end of first finger on ears 2%? and second finger on the back plate A at 28. Press in with first finger to straighten elbow of the two small links B and C, bring thumb and second finger toward each other and the latch opens. Thereafter, the back plate A and links B and C maybe swung into open position, as suggested by the dot-dash lines in Figure 3, and the watch removed from the wrist of the wearer.

The back plate A is cruciform in shape and has arms 2! that are positioned in the hollow l8 on the back E of the forearm when the Watch D is located in the hollow ii on the inside of the forearm (see Figures 1 and 2). The arms 2? fit into the space between the prominences tin and i366, thus preventing the wrist. band from rotating around the Wearers wrist. Also, these arms. are disposed in the hollow iii to prevent.

the band from sliding longitudinally relative to the forearm. This arrangement retains the watch D in a position in the natural hollow 11.

Figure 3 shows the watch as being held out of contact with the forearm by the back plate A and the links B and C. My construction provides three-point contact between the wrist band and the wearers forearm or wrist. The three-point contact referred to is the spread of the arms 21 on the back plate A forming two wide-apart points and the general front forming the third. This is an important feature of the design, which holds the watch always in a flat position on the arm, even though comparatively loose. A conventional loose bracelet would tend to fall crosswise of the wrist, i. e., not remain square to it. With these two wide-apart contacts of the back plate the watch must stay in longitudinal position even though comparatively loose.

Although the band is loose, the watch D is retained in position, giving comfort to the wearer. The watch is afforded protection against accidental injury and is disposed on the upper inside of the wrist where the wearer can readily read it unnoticed without obvious waving and reversing of the forearm. The latch link C never opens accidentally, and a watch-snateher cannot remove the watch with one hand, or without attracting the attention of the wearer. The back plate A and links B-C provide sufficient joints to compensate for tensioning and various movements of the wrist so as not to bind.

Turning to Figure 2, it will be observed that the back plate A has a diamond-shaped opening 28 fashioned therein. Of course, this opening may have other shapes. The opening 28 has several advantages; makes the plate A lighter, improves the general design effect, and removes the tendency to sweat by the ventilation in the center.

The links B and C could be used successfully with expansion and other types of bands. The latch hook 2| can be readily manipulated to latch or unlatch it with the free hand, while with more or less links this job is difiicult.

My band could be made of round bars of tubular metal of any kind, such as gold, silver, stainless steel, etc., and this could be formed readily with any light tools both as to form and size. This would be especially comfortable to wear. Using this idea, it would save the jeweler having to stock different sizes of links for the band. This has considerable practical value. The same general design would prevail as that shown in the drawings, excepting the parts would be made from bars or tubular metal.

I claim:

1. A band of the character described for positioning and retaining a wrist watch in a natural hollow of a wearers forearm, which hollow is disposed adjacent to the pulse area located near the base of the wearers thumb; comprising a back plate secured to the top of a watch and extending over the top of the forearm and downwardly along the back of the latter adjacent to the wearers wrist joint to substantially the bottom side of the forearm; a watch-engaging link secured to the bottom of the watch and depending therefrom along the inside of the forearm to substantially the bottom of the latter; a latching link interconnecting the lower ends of the back plate and the watch-engaging link; and means on the back plate for retaining the back plate from rotating around and moving longitudinally 4 relative to the wearers forearm when said plate is secured in place.

2. A band of the character described for positioning and retaining a wrist watch in a natural hollow of a wearers forearm, which hollow is disposed adjacent to the pulse area located near the base of the wearers thumb; comprising a back plate secured to the top of a watch and extending over the top of the forearm and downwardly along the back of the latter adjacent to the wearers wrist joint to substantially the bottom side of the forearm; a watch-engaging link secured to the bottom of the watch and depending therefrom along the inside of the forearm to substantially the bottom of the latter; a latching link interconnecting the lower ends of the back plate and the watch-engaging link; the back plate having arms extending therefrom longitudinally of the wearers forearm and being positioned in a natural hollow on the back of the wearers forearm adjacent to the wearers wrist joint; said arms retaining the back plate from rotating around and moving longitudinally relative to the wearers forearm when said plate is secured in place.

3. A band of the character described for positioning and retaining a wrist watch in a natural hollow of a wearers forearm, which hollow is disposed adjacent to the pulse area located near the base of the wearers thumb; comprising a back plate secured to the top of a watch and extending over the top of the forearm and downwardly along the back of the latter; and securing means interconnecting the lower end of the back plate and the bottom of the watch; said plate being cruciform in shape and having arms fitting into a natural hollow on the back of the forearm; said arms retaining said plate from rotating around and moving longitudinally of the wearers forearm when the plate is secured in place.

4. A band of the character described for posi tioning and retaining a wrist watch in a natural hollow of a wearers forearm, which hollow is disposed adjacent to the pulse area located near the base of the wearers thumb; comprising a back plate secured to the top of a watch and extending over the top of the forearm and down wardly along the back of the latter; and securing means interconnecting the lower end of the back plate and the bottom of th watch; said plate being cruciform in shape and having arms fitting into a natural hollow on the back of the forearm; said arms retaining said plate from rotating around and moving longitudinally of the wearers forearm when the plate is secured in place; said plate having an opening in its central portion to provide ventilation to the portion of the wearers forearm disposed below said central portion.

LEONARD L. GILCREASE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 139,793 McHale Dec. 19, 1944 50,195 Wiley Sept. 26, 1865 2,120,348 Bezault June 14, 1938 2,459,413 Canovsky Jan. 18, 1949 

